With December coming to an end, we’re just about done with 2020. Standard holiday madness aside, it’s been a crazy year. But we’re all well-aware of how crazy the year has been, so I’ll spare you the obvious.
Regardless, this month we heard of a few ecommerce developments that are worth some attention. It’s easy to miss some — if not most or all — of these if you’re not looking out for them. No worries though, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s everything important in the ecommerce world that you may have missed this month.
Easier WhatsApp shopping with Carts
WhatsApp is quickly becoming a go-to platform to discuss products and coordinate sales. With the app increasingly mediating more and more sales, the platform’s been upgraded to now include Carts. People can now browse a catalog, select multiple products for purchase and send the order as one message to the business.
New Facebook insights for small businesses
Small businesses around the world are suffering from financial losses due to the ongoing pandemic. While many factors influence the pandemic’s impact on local economies, real time information on business activity is scarce. To help support economic recovery, Facebook has launched a new insights initiative.
Pinterest Predicts 2021 trend report
Pinterest just released their yearly Pinterest Predicts report for the trends they predict will rise in 2021. Touted as “not our typical year-end trend report,” this is a not-yet-trending report that aims to predict future trends as well as where the platform and its users are headed.
New Pinterest board features
Pinterests launched new board features to make home, wellness, gifting plans and more a reality. The platform is upgrading boards with the following new features:
- Notes to self on pins
- Ability to favorite specific pins in a board
- A toolbar with quick access to board functions
Visualize beauty products with Google
When shopping for beauty products, it’s difficult to make purchase decisions on such personal items without trying them on. To make it easier to make such decisions from home, Google is working with data partners to help better visualize thousands of beauty products. Now when you research products from supported brands, you can see what they look like on a range of skin tones as well as compare shades and textures.
Amazon offers easy returns at more locations
Amazon recently announced that it's making purchase returns as convenient as possible this holiday season. That means longer return windows and box/label-free return options at a variety of different stores, including Whole Foods Market, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, UPS, Kohl’s locations and more.
